Steelers resign Charlie Batch

[Bayz101]

http://sportspyder.com/teams/pittsbu...ticles/6292371

[Millers the sh!t]

I'm 29 yrs old. I'm gonna retire before he does.

[LVSteelersfan]

I seriously hope this is not their answer for backup QB again this year. Sorry Charlie, but we need to start grooming a new backup who can play several games if something happens to Ben. We lost last year because the coaches didn't trust Batch to lead them against San Francisco in a game we needed. Instead Ben didn't get to rest and couldn't heal up at all heading into the playoffs.

[Curtain_of_Steel]

First Foster, than Legursky, add a side dish of Essex and now the cherry on top in Batch. Well the gang is all here. With this argument, hell Smith and Ward shouldve stayed, lol

At the end of the day, as long as Ben doesn't get seriously mamed back there, we will never see a back up QB on the field unless he is running out water or some other supplies.

[SteelKid212]

charlie is back because he is a proven capable backup. its just a one year deal isnt it?

im sure though, the steelers will pick up a younger qb, someone to groom, maybe in the draft.

[steeltheone]

Many drafts have us taking Casey Keenum in the late rounds...I like the sounds of that!

[Curtain_of_Steel]

Doesn't matter if its a 50 year deal, its the nfl. He could be gone in 60 days... He is aplace holder just in case. charlie was probably being courted by many nfl teams, we needed to step in and secure him quick, lol

[Steel Peon]

This rocks, and Charlie's awesome.

[Hawaii 5-0]

Batch's One-Year Contract Could Spell The End for Leftwich, Dixon

by Neal Coolong on Apr 17, 2012


The sun rises in the east. Our taxes are due at some point in mid-April. QB Charlie Batch signs a one-year deal with the Steelers. These are rituals of the year we've all come to expect in our time here on Earth.

The question now is how Batch's most recent signing will affect the contract negotiations of QB Byron Leftwich and the upcoming draft.

Batch, at 38, clearly is not a long-term solution to back-up veteran QB Ben Roethlisberger. QB Dennis Dixon was being molded into that role, but he's on the lookout for a gig that may include competition for a starting job - he was most recently visiting the Denver Broncos, where the 35-year-old Peyton Manning is coming off a missed season and multiple neck surgeries.

Leftwich has performed when needed in his tenure in Pittsburgh, but injuries have ended or largely derailed his last two seasons.

It looks as if the Batch/Dixon/Leftwich shuffle will end this season, as odds seem to indicate the Steelers will go shopping for a future back-up quarterback in the draft. The Steelers have used a fifth round pick on Dixon in 2008, and their last drafted back-up, former Steelers QB Brian St. Pierre, in 2003. They also drafted Omar Jacobs in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft.

So history shows they like to go for potential back-up QBs in the fifth round. Their long-term success with that strategy, though, is partially the reason why Batch hasn't been beaten out and released yet.

Batch struggled during an in-game replacement of Roethlisberger in Week 15 at San Francisco, looking more than a little rusty, but looked sharp enough to guide the Steelers' offense to 27 points in a shutout win over St. Louis in Week 16. A big part of the job of a back-up quarterback on a team with a franchise quarterback in place is to help prepare the starter, and Batch does that as well as anyone, according to many people familiar with his role.

He's obviously done it well enough to stay in Pittsburgh for another year.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com...h-dennis-dixon

[tanda10506]

I think Batch is a great back up. I know a lot of members here were down on Batch's age and how he looked immobile a few times, but really Batch is pretty decent for a backup QB. We still beat teams we should with him and we had a chance to beat Baltimore with him the year before last. An extremely small amount, if any, back up QB's are going to beat the Ravens, Pats, Packers, and teams like that, that's why they are backups. If Ben misses a game or two Batch gives us a CHANCE to win and that's what I want in a backup QB.